Offensive Tackle ~ Shon Coleman ~ Auburn Tigers ~ 6054/308

Regarding Offensive Tackles

I consider Offensive Tackles no more crucial to a Team's Championship Chances than Offensive Guards or Centers, and that contrast of course flies in the face of conventional "Wisdom", but I would hardly consider the position of Offensive Tackle to be overrated: Far more Championships are won and lost in The Trenches than most would believe.

The Gutters are riddled with the Corpses of Teams that were built around so-called "skill" Players ~ teams that delighted their Fantasy FootBall Fans every Year, all the way until January...until The Only Games That Really Matter.

It is then, of course, that the Capacity ~ or lack thereof ~ to Move The Chains and protect the QuarterBack against PlayOff Caliber Defenses rears its ugly head. And another Team built for Fantasy FootBall bites the dust.

This is how I break things down, when I'm evaluating Offensive Tackles:

Power: Above all: Core Power. Torso Power is important, but Core Power, from the Knees to the Ribs, is absolutely crucial. All the upper body Strength in the world will still fail if you simply can't dig in your heels. But Core Power enables an Offensive Lineman to project Power in the Running Game and to reject Power in the Passing Game.

Agility: Launch Velocity, Acceleration, and above all: Fluidity or Core Agility. Core Agility is even more essential to sustained good Health ~ and to sustained good FootBall ~ than Core Power. The ability to react with Serpentine smoothness is a tremendous asset in all Aspects of the Game, and certainly in the Hand to Hand Combat that characterizes Trench Warfare. All the Power in the World goes only so far if you're stiff and lumbering out there.

Intangibles:Processing Speed and Motor. Processing Speed or Diagnostic Velocity is about how quickly and effectively one Reads & Reacts to how the Rapidly Roiling Tactical LandScape effects Blocking Schemes, and Motor is about Endurance and Drive: How much Work has been put into Conditioning, and how it manifests itself.

Run Blocking: I don't believe that he projects especially well in either Power or in Zone, but he could compete.

Pass Blocking: Here he has more Potential, because of that terrific WingSpan.

Shon Coleman Prospectus

Shon Coleman missed 30 Months a few short Years ago, conquering Cancer.

Needless to say: I and everyone else is rooting for'm. He's got plenty of Work yet to do, mind you, but I don't think anyone's questioning his capacity to do whatever it takes for however long it takes to make the best of his Skills.

What I, personally, question, are if the general perception of his Skills has been pumped up a bit ~ or two bits!! ~ by the Good Will we all feel towards this incalculably impressive young man.

As a Prospect, I see Shon Coleman as an Offensive Tackle with unremarkable Power and Agility who has a lot of Work to do on his Combat Skills, and whose only Strengths are his enormous WingSpan...and his Heart.

I'll take on the mantle of being the ColdBlooded A-Hole who grades this admirable kid as OverRated.

But I'll also say that I hope he makes me look like a drooling Idiot in the Years to come.

He wouldn't be the first!!

Grateful Thanks, as always, for the crucial Work done by the folks at Draft BreakDown!!

Yank Rank: Soldier ~ OverRated

Market Value

2nd/3rd Round

Yank Rank

3rd/4th Round

Please do Note: This and all Evaluations issued by this Site are produced by a ludicrously unqualified Amateur, privy to not even the tiniest fraction of Coach's Tape, Scouting Expertise, Face to Face Interviewing, Experience, or Inside Information enjoyed by the Professionals. As such, anything put forth is certainly misinformed, euphonious, derivative Tripe, and should be rejected out'f hand and indeed shunned by all men and women of Good Will!! I'm trying to discern Power, Agility, Combat Skills, and far more abstract, esoteric Concepts such as Processing Speed and Motor, and I'm trying to do so based almost entirely on a fascinating fusion of Tape, Combine Numbers, and Pro Days, while trying to attenuate my findings based on Allowances for Competition Level, Scheme, Concept, Context, and, above all: Trajectory!!

None of this is even remotely a Complaint, mind you, but rather a Warning!! Caveat Emptor!!